Photo credit : Naresh Newar
Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation Hon. Shankar Bhandari said priority has been given to conservation program at community level to improve bio-diversity conservation and ecosystem at an Interaction Programme on Research -Policy Interface : Mainstreaming Payment for Ecosystem Services in Nepal organized by the Ministry, ICIMOD, Green Governance Nepal - GGN and the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics - Sandee in Kathmandu, Nepal on November 9,2016.

SANDEE remembers Kenneth Arrow, the greatest economist that we were privileged to meet in our lifetimes, who generously gave his time to help our researchers at the 5th Research and Training Workshop in Rajendrapur, Bangladesh, during December 16-21,2002.

Over the past week, Delhi has remained under the grip of dense smog. This year's pollution levels are the highest ever measured in two decades.
Newspapers reported that much of this pollution originated in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana where farmers burn their fields to dispose crop residue. But they were short on providing solutions to deal with the problem of burning of agricultural fields.
There is, in fact, a simple, practical, and cost-effective way to eliminate most of the smog that envelopes Delhi and the entire northwest of the country every November.

In the eastern Indian state of Odisha, for instance, some 2,000 people died in a heat wave in 1998.
In 2015, heat waves hit a number of states in India including Delhi, with deaths numbering more than 2,500. A majority of the deaths were in the eastern states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
In response to the 1998 heat wave crisis, the Odisha government introduced a number of awareness campaigns that alerted people to the dangers posed by heat waves. They also provided advice on how people should protect themselves.
The campaigns were continued in subsequent years and intensified from 2007 with the use of multiple electronic media.

This study was undertaken in the Sardukhola sub-watershed of eastern Nepal to illustrate how local policy instruments can be used to supplement government water supply. We discuss a strategy for using Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) to meet water demand in Dharan Municipality in Nepal.

SANDEE's 32nd Biannual Research and Training Workshop was held in Club Hotel Dolphin, Waikkal, Negombo, Sri Lanka from June 15-18, 2016. SANDEE's research associates presented their final and progress reports during the research and training workshop.

Agriculture is a highly risky venture mainly due to uncertainty in crop production emanating from natural causes including unpredictable weather events and pest attacks, which leads governments to implement various crop insurance schemes in order to provide economic support to farmers in the event of crop failure.

Textile and garment factories are among the largest contributors to both industrial employment and pollution in Bangladesh. Bangladesh, like many other countries,
struggles with the enforcement of its environmental rules.

SANDEE Summer School in Environmental and Resource Economics from May 9 - 26, 2016 was held in AIT Conference Center from May 9, Monday. The Summer School seeks to introduce economists to different themes in Environmental and Development Economics.

Ecosystem services make important contributions to human well-being. South Asia is witnessing a rapid deterioration of local and regional ecosystems. What are some research priorities for managing South Asia's ecosystem services, as identified by a group of scientists and practitioners?

Farmers in Nepal face a number of weather-related challenges, including uncertain rainfall. These problems affect food security in the country. One effective response is to provide farmers with training and support to help them adopt rainwater-harvesting based irrigation.

Sri Lanka's paddy farming solely depended on organic fertilizer many years ago but the use of chemical fertilizer is now on the rise and has become a much-discussed topic. Many argue that farmers use excessive chemical fertilizer, well above the recommended levels...

Payment systems for ecosystem services (PES) have expanded rapidly in the decade since the publication of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Most PES systems pertain to regulating services, and they aim to

Global warming has changed the climate in South Asia. Studies by SANDEE researchers and others show that this warming has significantly decreased crop production and manufacturing output in the region.

SANDEE's 31st Biannual Research and Training Workshop will be held in Gokarna Forest Resort, in Kathmandu, Nepal from December 10 - 13, 2015. SANDEE's research associates will present their final and progress reports during the Research and Training Workshop. International and regional resource person will attend this four day workshop and advise the researchers on their research projects.

Organic agriculture can benefit both the environment and farmers in Pakistan. Growing organic crops can be at least as profitable as growing conventional crops because of lower input costs and higher output prices. For instance, in the Punjab area, input costs per hectare in organic wheat and rice farms are 20% and 10% lower than their conventional counterparts. While yields in organic farms also tend to be lower than conventional farms, these farms do better in terms of soil health.

In India, biofuel has gained in popularity in recent years because of its potential as a clean energy source and a means to stimulate rural development. Yet, growth in Jatropha, a key bio-fuel crop, is not increasing as expected. In order to better understand whether biofuel can be an alternate energy source, a SANDEE study assessed the factors that influence the adoption and continued production of Jatropha plantations in North East India.

One of the key environmental problems facing South Asia is a layer of air pollution, known as the Atmospheric Brown Cloud that covers large parts of the region. Much of this pollution is caused by farmers burning agricultural field residue. This pollution has a significant negative impact on people's health and on regional climate and crop output. A recent SANDEE study from India's Punjab region looks at the factors that drive field residue burning.

This paper describes the design, implementation and results of a uniform-price reverse auction and real payment system to incentivize the avoidance of open-field burning of rice straw by smallholder farmers in Nepal. The main objective of the study was to reveal the private costs to farmers of avoiding rice straw burning. The study used survey and auction data from a sample of 317 farmers from 18 villages in Southern Nepal. Using a sealed bid one-shot reverse auction a level of payment ..

Rice is the most important crop in Bangladesh. Rice straw, produced as a
by-product, can be used for many purposes. However, farmers burn a great
deal of straw, contributing to a range of environmental pollution problems
including atmospheric brown clouds and black carbon. This Brief examines
farmer behaviour in Bangladesh and discusses whether farmers can be
induced to use other methods to get rid of rice residue.

To finance much-needed water quality improvements in Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad, park authorities should consider increasing the entry fee for enjoying this well-used lake from its current level of INR 10 to enter Lumbini Park to at least INR 20 per visit. This will boost yearly revenues by 80% and provide financial resources that can be used to clean the lake and its surroundings.

There are few economic studies that have estimated the impact of climate variables on agriculture by identifying their impacts on irrigation sources, even though irrigation serves as a critical adaptation strategy for farmers' in water-deficit countries such as India. In this study, we examine the implications of variations in climate variables on ground water sources of irrigation and agricultural income in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

To protect endangered turtles that nest in one of the most important wildlife sanctuaries in Sri Lanka wildlife officials need to consider increasing the entrance fee charged for turtle watching. Increasing the entry fees will result in additional annual revenues of LKR 70 million to sanctuary managers. These revenues can be used to fund turtle protection and to involve local households in turtle conservation.

A Choice Experiment in Nepal gives us an understanding of people's preferences for ecosystem services. To help policy-makers act to improve watershed conservation, a new SANDEE study in collaboration with the Himalayan Climate Change Adaptation Program of ICIMOD has assessed the value of the services provided by the watershed that drains into the Koshi River Basin in central Nepal.

Even as the world focuses on COP 21 in Paris, our attention cannot waver from regular development needs. Bhutan has done more than most countries in the world to protect nature and integrate conservation into development. Access to clean water and good sanitation are core requirements of economic development and SANDEE research suggests that Bhutanese are demanding better access.

On June 27th, SANDEE launched its 30th Research and Training workshop in Negombo, Sri Lanka with a panel discussion on environment and development in Sri Lanka. This was followed by research presentations by SANDEE researchers.

There are clear links between government communication and fewer deaths from heat stroke. The recent searing heat waves in the sub-continent have proved fatal to hundreds. The unforgiving heat has spared no one.

We organized the Summer School in Environmental and Resource Economics from 4-10 July, 2015. Sir Partha Dasgupta, Prof. Subhrendu Pattanayak, Prof. A.K. Enamul Haque and Prof. Mani Nepal were the core-faculty of the course.

SANDEE is currently inviting concept notes for policy research on Managing Environmental Changes. Selected concept notes will lead to an invitation to submit full research proposals that will be further reviewed for grant consideration. SANDEE is currently inviting concept notes for policy research on Managing Environmental Changes. Selected concept notes will lead to an invitation to submit full research proposals that will be further reviewed for grant consideration.

Indian scientists identify priorities for research and education in Nature. In this issue, SANDEE Fellow Joyashree Roy discusses the SANDEE model and argues for increasing environment and energy economists in the country.

Application Submission Deadline: May 3, 2015
The Asian Centre for Development (ACD) and the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) are jointly organizing a Research and Writing Workshop in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from May 24 - 28, 2015in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The objectives of the workshop are to introduce researchers to current policy-research concerns related to environment and development across South Asia, develop research proposal writing skills among researchers beginning to work on the economics of environmental problems, encourage empirical research that can contribute to sustainable development in Bangladesh and across South Asia and examine options for cross-country research. The workshop will provide practical training where participants first identify research issues and then develop research proposals with guidance from local and international experts.

The Himalayan mountains provided the stunning backdrop for SANDEE’s first ‘Writing for Impact’ workshop. The three-day workshop, held at the Dhulikhel Mountain Resort one hour northeast of Kathmandu on the road to Tibet, attracted 20 researchers fro

We are delighted to inform you about awards to two SANDEEites at the recent World Congress in Environment and Resource Economics in Istanbul, Turkey. SANDEE Founder Sir Partha Dasgupta received the European Lifetime Achievement in Environmental Economic

about sandee

SANDEE's mission is to strengthen the capacity of individuals and institutions to undertake research on the inter-linkages among economic development, poverty, and environmental changeand to disseminate practical information that can be applied to development policies.Read More »